Metro State basketball coach Mike Dunlap is on the verge of moving his office from the Auraria Campus across the street to the Pepsi Center.
Less than three months after signing a new five-year contract, Dunlap has accepted an offer to become an assistant to Nuggets coach George Karl, according to multiple NBA sources.

Dunlap confirmed Friday that he has spoken to Karl and the Nuggets about the job but emphasized, "I have not signed anything."

Karl did not return a telephone message.

Dunlap, considered one of the top coaches in college basketball, interviewed with Karl informally last month in the Nuggets practice gym at the Pepsi Center.

In nine seasons at Metro State, Dunlap has won two Division II national championships and compiled a 248-50 record. He twice has been named Division II national coach of the year.

Karl has been looking for another assistant since Scott Brooks left in June to take a similar position with the Sacramento Kings.

Dunlap and Karl have been friends since about 1994, when Karl was coach of Seattle SuperSonics. Then coaching in the Australian pro league, Dunlap spent time with Karl swapping basketball stories and theories.

Dunlap also has a strong relationship with Nuggets director of player personnel Mark Warkentien and assistant Tim Grgurich from their days working basketball camps together in Las Vegas.

Karl said Thursday that he wanted to hire an assistant by next week. Dunlap's move to the Nuggets comes after he signed a contract in May that would have paid him $148,000 annually at Metro State.

Instead, he will join current Nuggets assistants Adrian Dantley and Doug Moe on the Denver bench. Grgurich and John Welch carry assistant titles, but their primary focus is player development.

Dunlap also has a reputation for developing young talent during his two-plus decades in basketball.

He was an assistant at the University of Southern California and the University of Iowa before working his way up the head coaching ladder."